A man from Bread Springs is facing multiple charges after he shot a man in the knee.
According to a criminal complaint, a group of four men were gathered outside the victim's house in Bread Springs. Arthur Chee Pat, 68, and an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, who lived nearby, heard the four men yelling and went to see the nature of the commotion.Pat returned to his residence to retrieve a firearm and then drove to the location of the yelling.
When Pat arrived, he told his son (who was one of the men gathered in the victim's front yard) to get in Pat’s truck. Pat then brandished a firearm and fired three gunshots in the direction of one man and two more in the victim's direction, striking him once in the knee. Pat then drove away with his son.
The victim was transported to a local hospital and then to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. Pat was detained by law enforcement at his residence soon after the incident. Officers located the handgun in the back of Pat’s vehicle.
Alexander M.M. Uballez, United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, announced on Feb. 16 that Pat appeared in federal court on a criminal complaint charging him with assault with a dangerous weapon and using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. Pat will remain on conditions of release pending trial, which has not been scheduled as of press time.
A criminal complaint is only an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the current charges, Pat faces up to life in prison.
The Gallup Resident Agency of the FBI Albuquerque Field Office investigated this case with assistance from the Navajo Police Department and Department of Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Jones is prosecuting the case.
